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Office 2010 files compatible with 2013?

strep3241

strep3241

Senior member
I am about to install Microsoft Office 2013 and would like to know if my previous excel and word files will work with the new Office. Some of the files were created in Office 2007. I have 2010 installed now and have noticed some of my excel files say working in compatibility mode, I assume this is because they were created in 2007.

I did a search but could not find anything that answered my question.
 
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IF not directly usable; they will convert to what ever format 13 uses.
realize that you may not be able to reuse them in a 10 system unless you deliberately export the file (not jsut save).

Best to find a system that has 13 on it and test to see what it asks you and also see if 10 can read those files.


a few years ago, this same issue caused a ot of problems within the DOD.
Feds stayed behind, contraters moved forward and all hell broke loose.
 
Office 2007, 2010 and 2013 all use the same XML-based save format. Any files created in Office 2003 or before are the ones that might give issues, but even then, those should typically open fine.

In short OP, you should see absolutely zero issues. Go for it.
 
blurredvision said:
Office 2007, 2010 and 2013 all use the same XML-based save format. Any files created in Office 2003 or before are the ones that might give issues, but even then, those should typically open fine.

In short OP, you should see absolutely zero issues. Go for it.
Click to expand...
ditto!
 
Okay, that is good to know. Are there any advantages to using 2013 over 2010? Any negatives about it? I have read that it has been redesigned for Windows 8 and tablets.
 
nothing extra practically, just changes to the interface.

the only reason why I choose to use 2013 is because Outlook 2013 is so much better and faster when dealing with IMAP emails than Outlook 2010
 
Unless you want more seamless skydrive syncing, 2010 is fine. Some of our office machines are on 2007, some are on 2010 and 2013 and everything works just fine.
 
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I converted from 2003 to 2013 and all my Excel files work fine, so I assume 2007 would work as well.

After I modify a file created with 2003, Excel asks if I want to save in the original format or convert to 2013 format. It retains the "xls" suffix in the old and uses a "xlsx" in the new.
 
memory said:
Okay, that is good to know. Are there any advantages to using 2013 over 2010? Any negatives about it? I have read that it has been redesigned for Windows 8 and tablets.
Click to expand...

I used 2003 for many years was happy with it. I bought 2010 primarily because I thought it may be the last version that was designed for a desktop. I used for about three weeks and then upgraded to 2013 under Microsoft's promotion.

I am not that picky, so I do not see a lot of difference between 2010 and 2013, except 2013 is oriented towards tablet use with simpler interfaces. It is not as tablet-oriented as Windows 8, so the changes won't bother most desktop users. However, some people have freaked-out about little issues, like limited color choices. Either version is fine for my desktop.

The most important negative with 2013 for me is that is available to the retail market only in the Click-2-Run version. One has to have a volume license to access (legally) the "msi" version.

Although some of the "experts" think Click-2-Run is great, I think it sucks. First, one is forced to install the entire suite. There are no choices about which application a user may want to install -- all or none. And secondly, updates are no longer included in "Microsoft Update" (the updates listed are for the msi version). The suite updates periodically in the background. I do not like automatic updates for any software, so I turn-off the update feature and then turn-on after "Patch Tuesday". It typically downloads a new version immediately. I let it install and then turn updates off again. The only information provided is the version number. I have to search Microsoft's website if I want to know what was updated.
 
gmaster456 said:
Unless you want more seamless skydrive syncing, 2010 is fine. Some of our office machines are on 2007, some are on 2010 and 2013 and everything works just fine.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. I do believe Office 2013 now incudes full web-based versions of its programs though, so that might be something you need. You'll want to do more research into this, though, because I'm not sure what exactly it entails. Skydrive users already have Office web-based programs but I don't think they are full featured.
 
blurredvision said:
Office 2007, 2010 and 2013 all use the same XML-based save format. Any files created in Office 2003 or before are the ones that might give issues, but even then, those should typically open fine.

In short OP, you should see absolutely zero issues. Go for it.
Click to expand...

Except for Visio. Visio 2013 was the first to introduce an XML-based format so 2010 can't read its files and I couldn't find a viewer for the new version when I looked within the past few months.

memory said:
Okay, that is good to know. Are there any advantages to using 2013 over 2010? Any negatives about it? I have read that it has been redesigned for Windows 8 and tablets.
Click to expand...

The UI changes are absolute crap and there's no way to fix the color scheme, I can't stare at it for more than a minute. I fully recommend sticking with 2010 until they fix that.
 
memory said:
I am about to install Microsoft Office 2013 and would like to know if my previous excel and word files will work with the new Office. Some of the files were created in Office 2007. I have 2010 installed now and have noticed some of my excel files say working in compatibility mode, I assume this is because they were created in 2007.

I did a search but could not find anything that answered my question.
Click to expand...

like Microsoft Office 2013
 
memory said:
I am about to install Microsoft Office 2013 and would like to know if my previous excel and word files will work with the new Office. Some of the files were created in Office 2007. I have 2010 installed now and have noticed some of my excel files say working in compatibility mode, I assume this is because they were created in 2007.

I did a search but could not find anything that answered my question.
Click to expand...

Some suggestion.
At work I do still use MS Excel 2000. A lot of people have newer versions on Excel, with file extension .xlsx vs xls - as in older format.
Everytime I have to ask people to resend attached file in older format.
By default, Excel 2010 saves all files in newer format - MS do hope that older MS Excel users will go and buy newer version on Office...
If you want other people with older Excel to open files you send, go to Preferences > Save File By Default and choose older MS Excel format...That way, files will be saved in .xls and anyone, even with older computers, older versions of Excel will be able to open your files.....
 
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